Also scared of the (painful) birth?

I consciously tuned out all the horror stories, because there's absolutely nothing to them!
Yes, you're going to have pain anyway. It's called 'hard labour' for a reason!

I had an epidural, but I had promised myself to try as long as possible without it.
But it all went very quickly for me.
My water broke at 2:15, so I went straight to the hospital for the antibiotics. By 8, the contractions really started to kick in, and around 10 I asked for an epidural. And at 11:50 my son was born.
Those horror stories about the epidural shot... take them with a grain of salt. You obviously feel the needle, and it's not pleasant. But I didn't have an incredibly painful experience with it.
So many people also claim that it takes forever for the epidural to kick in. I felt nothing at all after 5 minutes! I felt absolutely nothing during the episiotomy either.

Every birth is different, of course, but don't let anyone tell you otherwise. You only know what it's like when you experience it yourself!

I'm now 32.5 weeks. Has anyone had experience with a natural breech birth? It's not a horror story, it can still turn, but it's getting tight. I really want to have a natural birth; the idea of a C-section is scary.

I’ve since given birth to my 2nd little one.
I have to say it went really well until the last quarter when suddenly the epidural wore off, I mean.
What a hell it was. In 15 minutes I went from 6 cm to 10 cm and after 3 pushes he was here.
But what a pain it was that I didn’t know this beforehand.

I have to say with my first I got a good epidural and had a dream birth.

Xxxx

Just because someone else will never be able to give birth doesn't mean they shouldn't talk about it. Please keep everyone's grief separate. If you find it difficult, then don't read any further. But I've taken everything I've read so far on board. I'm now in my last week, first baby, no complications, but I do have some fear about what's waiting for me!

I look back on my birth very positively. It wasn't the easiest either. I'd been up for two nights straight, so I started with a real sleep deficit. I gave birth just after 11 pm, so it wasn't just a quick thing. I had to push for 1 hour and 45 minutes.

I struggled to cope with the contractions; they were quite unpleasant. Then I got pushing contractions but wasn't allowed to push yet, which was also quite tough.

After that, I switched to actually pushing. I didn't realize at all that it had taken 1:45 hours in total. In the end, I had a tear and the baby was delivered with the vacuum extractor. You really feel nothing from the tear; you get an anesthetic during a contraction.

And then it's so wonderful when you get your baby on your chest. Then you're just over the moon.

The next day I thought, oh, it's over, I didn't consciously experience it, but I was still busy.

Hopefully, you'll also have a good birth. If you need pain relief, ask for it.

Good luck, and it'll be fine.

I chose a natural birth twice and have no regrets at all. My first birth went well, and yes, it hurts, but the pain is manageable. The moment I couldn't take it anymore was when I was allowed to start pushing, and that feels different too. You can handle that pain better and channel it more effectively because you're actively involved and know the end is in sight. The second birth was more difficult, in my opinion, simply because I accepted an IV drip, which opened the floodgates for the doctor to take full control of the delivery, i.e., forcing everything to speed things up according to her schedule!!! Resulting in much more painful and shorter intervals between contractions. I understand that things sometimes need to be accelerated in medical emergencies, but not when everything is going perfectly!! So, golden advice: as an expectant mother, you feel things very intuitively, and while the pain is present, I find it bearable, and you know it's for the good of the baby. And if everything is normal, let them leave you and your baby alone, because all those wires and IVs are very impractical and unnecessary if everything is okay!!! That's my humble opinion.

Read about my very positive experience with natural pain relief, the birth TENS:
https://mamaisthuis.nl/mama-en-gezin/geboortetens-natuurlijke-pijnbestrijding-tijdens-bevalling/